Before we get into thoughts and opinions about the Philadelphia Eagles’ shocking announcement that Chip Kelly is now the head coach, I need to get one very important thing cleared up…

What made him change his mind?

This is important because his mind-changing calls into question whether or not he’s a guy we can count on. My initial reaction to this shocking news was “WTF?!?” And that’s mainly because I was perplexed that the man changed his mind on a big decision like that.

Andy Reid changed his mind quite a bit while he was coach, but one thing we never had to worry about was his commitment to his organization.

In order to get off on the right foot in Philadelphia, Kelly will need to explain this at his introductory press conference so Eagles fans can know exactly why he did an about-face on his decision to come to Philly.

I mean, seriously, it’s a matter of being a man of integrity and a man of your word. He just told Oregon he was returning only to turn around and say “sike!” Word is, there are quite a few shocked and disappointed people associated with the Ducks right now.

All along, as you might know, I’ve wanted either Mike McCoy or Gus Bradley as the next coach. This was before Chip was ever identified as a target and long before it was en vogue to say “Gus Bus” (of which I was on since early December).

For the record, I would have chosen Bradley over Kelly every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

We were so close to hiring Bradley, I could taste it! I went to bed Tuesday night knowing that he was in town on his second interview. I thought it was just a matter of time before they announced his hiring.

Then, something happened to cause the Gus Bus to blow-out a tire, careen into the guard rail and burst into flames while speeding down the highway to the NovaCare Complex. Apparently, while Howie Roseman was driving the Gus Bus, Kelly called in on his cell and distracted Howie by telling him he’s still interested in the Eagles job.

That’s why you should never answer your cell phone while driving!

I kid here, of course, but that’s basically what happened.

While wining and dining Bradley, the Eagles’ ex-girlfriend called and said he wanted them back. Lurie, Roseman and Smolenski then kicked Gus to the curb and went running back into the arms of their first love…good ole’ Chip.

Before we start talking about his scheme and what his plans are for coordinators and roster, hehas a serious question to answer first and foremost:

Again, why did he change his mind?

“You thought I was staying at Oregon? Ha ha, gotchya! See ya in Philly!”

After meeting with the Eagles for nine hours back in early January, he made the decision to stay at Oregon. Lurie and crew then went about their coaching search that included everyone under the sun, but was about to conclude with Gus Bradley.

There are reports out there that state Roseman had kept in contact with Kelly since their meeting and then things really heated up Tuesday night. However, none of them explain the reason why Kelly flip-flopped.

There are a few semi-explanations we’ve heard so far, they are as follows: Tthe below words spoken by Kelly as seen on NBC10 and quoted by Reuben Frank on Twitter, before boarding his plane to Philly…

“It’s a very difficult decision for me. It took so long to make it just because the people here are special. The challenge obviously is exciting for me, but it’s an exciting time [and] it’s a sad time — saying goodbye to people you love and respect, and I wanted to make sure I talked to my players and did it in the right fashion and talked to our staff. I feel like I did.”

Then, here’s a few more quotes as provided by Tim McManus after his arrival in Philly tonight:

“It was really tough,” Kelly said of his decision to leave Oregon. “I left a special, special place. And that’s probably what took me so long to make a decision. The challenge is what I was excited about, and that’s why I came. It’s a great city, it’s an iconic franchise, they’ve got an unbelievable owner. But I left some great people back at Oregon and that was the tough part

“I was sold on the Eagles the first time I met them. It was just my ties to Oregon. It was a people deal. I have great players there, an unbelievable coaching staff, that’s what made it hard because it’s a human decision. The Eagles are the Eagles. This is the NFL.”

He was leaving a special place with great people and that’s what took him so long to make a decision? Unless I hear something different, there was no standing offer on the table where the Eagles were waiting for Kelly to make his decision. He had already done that when he said be was staying at Oregon.

Therefore, this doesn’t explain why he changed his mind about that decision.

This concerns me because the one thing you never want to question is whether or not the leader of your franchise is a man you can trust and is “all in.”

The man stated before any interviews took place that he wanted things to get resolved quickly…presumably so he could inform the school and any new recruits for Oregon as soon as possible on whether he would be there or not.

First, there were numerous reports that he was close to a deal with Cleveland. Remember that? Then he met with the Eagles for nine hours and speculation began that he was getting close with them.

Therefore, it sounds like he was leading the Browns on at least a little bit, then warmed-up to Philly, only to decide to stay at Oregon. Then, we can’t forget that last year he was reportedly “deep in the process of finishing a deal” with Tampa Bay only to change his mind.

After re-committing to Oregon again this year, he turns around 10 days later and opts to come to Philly and the NFL.

Seems like this guy changes his mind more often than a baby with diarrhea changes his diaper.

We can all speculate that his reasoning may have been money (the Eagles upped their ante), possible sanctions coming down on Oregon, he was given more control, or he simply had more time to think about it and decided he wanted the challenge after all.

Whatever the case may be, he needs to address it and give an honest, believable answer.

Otherwise, how can you trust the man? How can you not think of what Nick Saban did to the Miami Dolphins or what Bobby Petrino did to the Atlanta Falcons?

Those are legitimate concerns because we’re talking about a guy in Chip Kelly who has never played or coached at the NFL level. He has no idea what he’s getting into and can’t know until he’s in it.

And if he suddenly went back on his word to Oregon, why should we believe he won’t do that to Philly if things start getting tough?

We all know how rough things can get in Philly. Will he change his mind again and go running back to college at the first sign of trouble?

He needs to convince me he won’t do that. And in order to convince anyone about that, he needs to explain exactly why he changed his mind.

It’s a legitimate question, if you want to blindly follow him then that’s good for you. That’s not me though, I want an answer to a legitimate question before I start “believing”. A man is only as good as his word, and his word seems a little questionable at this time. I hope he does “do amazing things”, but we’ll see about that.

I agree, you should just shut up and stop whining like a miserable old hag. He is clearly committed to this new venture. It was a difficult decision for him to make, and he never personally made any announcements about his decision to stay at Oregon. He made the next step in his career, and his commitment will be to win, just as he did in his collegiate career. I really do believe that is his only priority.

@Lil – Stop whining like a miserable old hag? He is “clearly” committed to this new venture? For one, I’m not “whining”, I’m bringing up a legitimate point and have a legit question. I’ll admit that I was stunned and disappointed about not hiring Gus Bradley and I never wanted a college guy to get the job. However, I’m an Eagles fan so of course I hope Kelly succeeds and I’ll be pulling for him and the team.

For two, how can you even say he is “clearly committed”? After everything I just pointed out, how can you say that? That makes absolutely no sense to me. For me to feel that way he has to explain why he changed his mind. If he never explains that, then I’ll always have that question in the back of my mind.

Put it this way, if you had a girlfriend that you loved but she cheated on, then left her boyfriend to be with you…wouldn’t you always wonder if she’ll do the same to you?

OK, question your talking about a man changing his mind on a life changing event. 1 moving from a place he and his family consider home 2 going to a totally different level of job and 3 a brand new city. IDK if the man has kids but if he does that also changes the score of things. And as you can see when you interview for HC jobs in the NFL there is no give me a week or so to think about it. because they will find someone else who will give them a yes no vs a yes a week from now. I’d rather have a man who makes a sound decision then who makes a rash one and looks like a foul afterwards. ex. Andy Reid with the Juan to DC Hire and Firing of him. and a lot of other things he did. If he decided to return to eugene to go over everything and respect his players his staff and the school to at least tell them up first what was going to happen then hey i can respect that more. a man who goes face to face with the people he truly needs to answer vs a guy who would have said yes i will take the job at first interview and shock more people who had hope he would stay. Tell me to my face your leaving vs hearing it through the news. Its the media in the first place that were reporting false reports. so if your so hung up on him changing his mind ask the media for the truth and bet you gets 101 different versions.

@Brian – Kelly has no wife or kids so that wasn’t a factor. I would have no problem at all if he wanted to go back to Oregon to tell them face to face first. In fact, I’d respect that even more. However, that wasn’t the case. Kelly made a *decision* to stay at Oregon and changed his mind 10 days later. Maybe it’s better that he had time to think about it, that’s true. But, if he initially decided not to come, he must have had some serious hesitations. What changed in the past 10 days?

Plus, between the Bucs (last year), Browns and us (this year), he has appeared wishy-washy about coming to the NFL. I don’t want a wishy-washy, flip-floppy kind of head coach. Make a decision and stick by it.

I dont know what to think yet. Really a surprise. I bleed green and always will support the Eagles, but I was not so excited. (I really hope I’m wrong and that within one year I come here to say that Kelly is the man). but for now I’m a little bit skeptic. (the difference between the NCAA and the NFL is abysmal and it make me scare)

Maybe this frustration is because I was very excited about Gus Bradly. my reasons

1- I’m old school. I prefer to see the 49ers D, SeaHawks D than The Patriots O. I love to see a 3 and out. Defense is so beautiful man!

2- With Mr Goodell & Co killing the game I think a great defensive mind has more value than a great offensive master (currently we have the queen “QB” and princesses “WRs”. nobody can touch them- yellow flag on the grass all day).
I mean, Its more difficult to find a great DC who can stop the attacks so freely because of rules than find a OC who can make an offense works.

3- try to exemplify my point of view, in 14 years with Reid we only were really a contender (and fun to watch) when we had Jim Johnson. And I miss this a lot.

but as I said before, I really hope Kelly prove me wrong and he can make us win the SB

@ Fabio – I’m a defensive kind of guy too. Offense can be exciting, but nothing gets me more pumped up than good old fashioned, hard-hitting defense. Chip Kelly has a lot to prove at this level. Obviously, I hope he succeeds and brings the Eagles to the promised land. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have some reservations about the man. He was not my first choice as a coach so I’m going to have to see the moves he makes and things he says, etc, to win me over a little bit more. I’ll admit I’m a little excited about this move because he was the “sexy hire” and comes with all kinds of accolades. But, above all else, he’ll have to prove he can win.

I like this hire, but I agree, there is a bit of a flake factor with this guy that concerns me. Even his comments a week or two ago about wanting to get the interview process “wrapped up quickly” caught my attention. Sure, nobody likes interviews, but to me, it just seemed a bit odd to say publicly. The dude’s interviewing to be an NFL coach for God’s sake, and his biggest concern is the speed of the interview process? Geez, the last job I interviewed for took 3 months and 4 interview before I ultimately got turned down! As far as Kelly changing his mind, I wouldn’t have had an issue with him saying he needed some time to think about it. After all, it is a big decision. It’s the fact that he declined immediately and then suddenly had a change of heart. To me, that indicates somebody who doesn’t think through decisions properly and/or someone who isn’t decisive with his decisions. That’s not a good thing for any job, let alone head coach of an NFL team.

I reiterate again, that overall, I like this hire, and assuming the Eagles did their due diligence, I think it’s an acceptable risk with the potential for a huge payoff. I just hope that the eagles did in fact vet this guy thoroughly and didn’t just get caught up in the hype. We’ve seen this team make rash decisions in the past and get burned. Examples include, giving Kolb the starting QB job and a huge contract after just a few good games and then changing their mind and giving the same thing to Vick a month later (neither of course panned out), then there’s the Washburn and Babin debacle, and of course the high dollar Asomugha deal. It’s not very encouraging, but then I don’t do this for a living, so I’m not qualified to pass judgment. As a fan, I just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Good thoughts JF! And I agree…I was worried about the flake factor. However, after I heard his presser yesterday, I came away reassured and impressed. I now have a better understanding of what went down and I can respect Kelly needing time to think about it away from being under the microscope.

During the whole search process, I wanted an NFL coach. Mike McCoy and Gus Bradley are who I wanted from day 1 and in no way did I want a college coach. I have nothing against Chip, I just didn’t want a guy with no NFL experience…plus, history says that just about all winning Super Bowl coaches held an NFL job (usually as a coordinator) as their previous position before becoming a championship head coach.

Well seems like Andy changed Chips mind here’s what chip was quoted saying
“One person that I really want to thank, in terms of advice in this whole thing, was Andy Reid and the fact that Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here just told me what this organization’s all about,” said Kelly today. “There’s not a classier guy.”